The Daughter
by Lowerbunk
Summary: She's alive. She's alive, my daughter, she's alive! But... she died. (All Might's dead daughter from years ago once again appears in his life).
1. Chapter 1

_Daddy?_

 **Yes dear?**

 _Why are there bad people?_

 **Hmm, that's a hard question. Maybe it's because when something bad happens to people, they don't know how to cope with it, and become bad themselves.**

 _What about the people that didn't have something bad happen to them?_

 **Oh, believe me Dear, everyone has something bad happen to them.**

All Might hugged his daughter closer to him, as they watched the stars. Eventually, she fell asleep. He turned to his stronger form, and brought her to her room, before changing back, and tucking her in.

He kissed her cheek.

 **I will always love you Sahna, no matter what happens.**

Ten months later she died.


	2. Chapter 2

It started with a cough. Then it turned into a fever. She was sick for such a long time. Her temperature soared, figuratively burning the bed around her, and she couldn't move as much as she would have liked. The doctors didn't know what it was. They didn't know how to cure it, and were madly hoping it would pass without their influence.

She passed first, unfortunately. She went into a hazy sleep, and never woke up.

All Might threw himself into his work after that. His smile became a little more forced, but he could still catch villains. No one noticed anyway. The famous grin never saw his eyes after that day.

She was so young; she hadn't even known what her quirk was. On the other hand, she never had to experience the conflict between good and evil. She never knew entirely what it was like, being a famous hero's daughter. Have friends. Be human.

She would never drive a car, taste alcohol, or even sleep at a friend's house. He knew it was a waste for him to spend time on an impossible future, but he couldn't stop his thinking on this subject from occasionally taking over his mind.

He came across an elderly woman, who had a special quirk of paths. She could see what could have happened after an event, if one variable was changed.

 **The death of my daughter. What would have happened, if she lived?**

He was almost glad then, that she died, for no child should have to endure such suffering.


	3. Chapter 3

**Present**

She was not dead. She didn't remember how. She remembered little of her past, her family. She just remembered waking up in a coffin, and madly clawing at the velvet ceiling. She had quickly given up, as for some reason coffins were made to be inescapable, but then, some person dug her out. They told her they had sensed the life under ground, and had to. Then they covered it up again, and offered to take her to the police station.

Her grave said her name was Sahna.

She told them no, and that she would be quite fine. She felt as if going home would be a bad idea, she didn't know why.

And here she was, in the present, applied nicely for UA. She had managed to acquire foster parents, and they had thought her quirk was neat enough that she could be a hero. She just shrugged, and did as they recommended. She had the whole summer to train, after all.

She leaned back, content, watching the clouds pass by. She was on a small grassy knoll, looking up. She was by the trashy beach, but she didn't mind, as the build-up didn't block the sky.

She had vague recollections of watching the stars with her father, but it never came across her mind to tell her who that was. She was curious, but not curious enough to seek him out. She knew she could, it would be quite easy. After all, her name on the gravestone was quite specific, and she was sure that she could dig through a few records and figure it out in an amount of time.

She watched as a kid around her age hauled the garbage of the beach away, only somewhat aided by a much bulkier man. She recognized him as All Might, but decided to ignore that. He didn't look like he was much yearning for anyone's attention at that moment anyway.

She noticed that in person he seemed a bit more... real, than on TV. Well, that was obvious, but real in an emotional sense. His grin was more real-fake than it was on the television- as he instructed who she now assumed to be his apprentice.

She smiled at them softly. It must be sweet, having that friendly relationship between a younger person and an older person.

Her foster parents were nice, and provided for her, but she never quite got that inter-generational rhythm with them. People being nice to each other was never the basis of a real relationship in her mind anyway.

The next day, she came back, and saw them at their task again. She came back the next day too, and the next, and then the day after that she decided to get closer. It was weird to watch from far away like a spy or villain would, so she sat quite close where they could see her. Then she pulled out a book with intent to read it.

"All Might, it is that girl again!"

"Yes it seems she has come closer."

So they had noticed her before. She spoke, "Well, I like relaxing on that hill over there, and I see you guys here everyday. I thought I would keep you guys company. Do you need any help?"

"Ah, no. Midoriya here is moving the trash as his training, so he needs no assistance."

"All right then, don't mind me."

"May I ask what your name is?"

"Of course. I am Sahna."

All Might froze.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sahna...**

The name of his daughter ran tumultuously through his head, but he quickly shook it off.

 **Impossible.**

So he returned to training Midoriya, who was likely a bit older than Sahna. They had seen her earlier, and decided to just ignore her. All Might had hidden mostly behind trash so that he didn't always have to be in his strong form, and then she had come closer, and they resumed their activities.

What they did was not different, it was just... strange with the girl there.

At some point, she had begun to help them anyway. When they asked her why, she had said that she was applying to a high school that taught heroics. She needed training as well.

"Which high school?" Asked Midoriya in a friendly manner. They each were rolling a large tire.

She looked embarrassed, "UA."

"Really? That's great, I applied there too! May I ask what your quirk is?"

"It's a very simple one, that I try not to use. I'm kind of like a zombie, you see?"

"As in you eat people, or as in you are like the living dead?"

"Well, that latter actually. When I get hurt, nothing happens. But when I die, all of my wounds get healed, and I remain dead for a while and then wake up. It freaked out my foster parents when we first found out."

"Woah! That's so cool! Foster parents?"

"Yes. It seems that the first time I died, I got buried, so my parents didn't know I was still alive. My foster parents, however, waited a bit longer for the funeral, and so when I woke up I was able to be returned home. I could find my first parents if I wanted to, but I'm pretty satisfied with my life. I think I would just make them sadder if I suddenly showed up having lived more than half of my life without them."

She sighed, and Midoriya took on a more thoughtful expression, and they remained silent for a while.

"Did you know that All Might used to have a daughter?"

"What happened?"

"He told me that she got sick, and had to stay in bed for eight months. Then she died."

"That's so sad..."

"I suppose everyone has something bad happen to them. But it's how we face it that makes us great."

"And it's how we face it that makes us good or evil. I remember my dad telling me that. When people have bad things happen to them they sometimes become evil, but sometimes they become the stronger good to beat those evil ones. I don't hate evil people though. It's not always their fault."

Sahna looked up at the sky, and smiled.

All Might watched the two children, and grinned at their camaraderie.

Midoriya set his jaw, determined. Determined to be that stronger good.

The future was all that mattered, but the past is often translated into the future. After all, time does not operate as a strictly progressive being.


	5. Chapter 5

Sahna grew close to the little group. All Might, Midoriya, and her. They told her their little secret, and she told no one else. Then summer ended, and they went to the entrance exam.

Since Sahna was basically quirkless, she brought a small circular metal shield. She had trained with it separate from All Might and Midoriya, and was actually quite good with it.

She used it mostly as an offensive weapon, but made sure to be able to defend as well. After all, it was a shield. She might as well use it as shields are meant to be used. However, other than that, it was still a large metal object, and she found it was quite effective against the weak robot that they used for testing. Sometimes her mind would drift to Midoriya and how he was doing. They had been put in separate examinations, so she could only guess.

He was less of a combat person, plus he had no quirk. Well, he had One for All, supposedly, but there was no guarantee about when that would manifest.

The exam was over quickly, and they were sent home to later receive their results.

She lay in bed, just thinking. She stared at the ceiling, accoustomed to looking up. The sky, the stars. On the days when the sky was crying, she looked skywards- or on the days when she was the one crying.

 _Daddy, why are there colors?_

 **Well, it's a bit hard to explain, but there are electromagnetic frequencies that humans can see.**

 _Are there ele- ele..._

 **Electromagnetic frequencies...**

 _Are there some of those that humans can't see?_

 **Heh. There are a lot of things that humans can't see. Infrared, ultra violet, hate, love. Well, hate and love aren't frequencies, but you can't see them.**

 **Oh dear, what's wrong?**

 _When you can't see people anymore, because they're dead and under your feet, can they still love you?_

 **Yes dear... they can still love you. Your grandparents still love you, your great-grandparents love you... Your mother loves you. I love you, I will always love you, dear.**

He enclosed her tiny hand in his, giving her warmth as she silently cried.

 _Daddy, I love you too._

He hugged her, and then turned into his strong form and scooped her up in his arms.

 **Let's go to bed now, button.**

She giggled, and he tickled her with a grin on his face.

Wait.

Strong form?

My dad had a strong form?

That seems remarkably like...

It couldn't be.

It could be.

It doesn't matter, he doesn't need to know.

Sahna turned facedown into her bed, and silently sobbed. She didn't know entirely why she was sad, but allowed herself to cry knowing that the eventual sleep would sweep over her. Maybe she would forget it in the morning.

No more hugs, kisses on the cheek, no large hand around hers. No tucks into bed, no reading out loud of bedtime stories.

She remembered that her father had read her bedtime stories every night until she died. Even the very night. Her favorite one, too. She had requested it with her weak, raspy voice.

 _Daddy, read that one, that one..._

 **Yes...**

She thought she would cry until she fell asleep, but alas that was impossible.

She didn't sleep that night.


	6. Chapter 6

Last Chapter ^_^

* * *

Agony, despair, suffering, pain. The things she would have had if she had lived. But without him she had a good life, friends, family, an interesting quirk (quirk of which had gotten her out of the potential situation in the first place).

 _Your dad is hero? You must be spoiled. Your dad is All Might? Well, my parents don't like him._ _We'll teach you a lesson._

Ironic that a hero wouldn't have been able to keep his own daughter safe, but in the end she had been kept safe, unwittingly.

Evil people sneak around. In the-past-that-never-happened, she would have been taken. Disappeared, worry and panic would have ensued. The vision didn't go beyond that, so he could only think of the endless tortures that could be applied to one who couldn't die. And maybe she could die, maybe there was a limit. Energy that can't be mustered, her death becomes a more permanent thing.

But she was alive without him, and he wanted to be sure she went through Hero training. If he can't protect her, he may as well be sure that she can protect herself.

* * *

 _Daddy?_

 **Yes Sahna?**

 _Do you think it hurts to die?_

 **I'm sure it does, but you won't have to worry about that for a long time, dear.**

 _Do you think it hurt when Mom died?_

 **... Maybe just a little, but I'm sure it didn't hurt too much.**

 _I wish Mom didn't die._

 **I wish that too, but you know Sahna... Life goes on.**

 _I think life is pretty, it's a pity it always has to leave so soon. I saw the boys at school kill a frog today, it was really gross, but then they realized they did a bad thing, and they started to cry, and they hung around it, trying to see if it's still alive. They never did that for bugs though... No one cares when a bug dies. Sometimes I wonder if we're all just bugs._

 **We're bugs perhaps to the stars, but when a human dies, people care. I'm sure other bugs care when you kill its friends.**

 _... I wish life lasted longer. That there could always be life, that we wouldn't have to die, that life could always be good, and people would always be happy, but life... Life is really a precious thing, isn't it? The teacher said that when she found the frog. And Dad?_

 **Hmm?**

 _Do you think stars die?_

 **Yes honey, even the brightest stars have to die at some point.**

 _... Dad?_

 **Yes Button?**

 _I saw a butterfly stuck to a wet flower the other day, and it was really pretty, with black and orange stripes. I think it was sad though, because it fell from where all of it's friends were. But really, it was the most beautiful butterfly I had ever seen..._

 **Life sure is precious, eh?**


End file.
